XMIT Reviews: Topre Realforce R2 (PFU Limited Edition)

Nick92

17 Dec 2020, 05:18

I'm waiting for my fullsize R2 PFU to be delivered. But I'm a bit worried that my keeb will have rattling keys and warped case. Hope everything will be fine. Can't believe $300 keyboard not that perfect. :(

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Muirium
µ

18 Mar 2021, 13:23

So… how do you like the R2 PFU now, after a good long time?

Just happen to have an eye on one, open box but NIB, locally for £140 for either colour. I shouldn't… but… I could get it in black and use those KBfans Cherry legend Topre caps at last… though I'm one 1.25u mod short of the bottom row…

(Buys USB C pigtail for cable modding IBM AT he went to ebay for in the first place instead.)

Oh, and what happened to the Realforce R2 RGB?

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XMIT
[ XMIT ]

18 Mar 2021, 23:08

I daily drove the R2 for a while. It was fine. I personally prefer the look of the older Realforce boards a bit better as I prefer rounded edges to hard edges for things that come anywhere near my wrists.

The Realforce RGB was an unusable rattly mess out of the box. It needs the equivalent of a “sticker mod”. So I laser cut a paper shim to fit between the plater and all the switch housings. That tightened everything nicely and made the board usable. On the upside you get to use Cherry caps. The downside is that it’s the most expensive keyboard to ship with crummy ABS double shots that I’ve ever seen. I happen to really like conventional Realforce PBT caps.

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ingmar

19 Mar 2021, 12:00

May I jump in here for a second? You, having seen it's “innards” as it were, are most likely able to answer my question: Is it possible to convert it to ISO layout, i.e. are the necessary holes etc. in the PCB in place? I have been looking into these boards for a while, but ANSI just won't cut it for me (and pre-sales support was not particularly helpful, let's say.)

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Muirium
µ

19 Mar 2021, 12:41

That plate looks 0% ISO friendly to me.

Image

You'd need to cut metal, and pray! And then there's the stab…

The PCB doesn’t look any better:

Image
XMIT wrote:
18 Mar 2021, 23:08
I happen to really like conventional Realforce PBT caps.
Same here. Topre caps are some of the best ever made, to my fingers. Just a pity they haven't gotten around to a Bluetooth version of these R2s yet. The quieter the keyboard, the more I'm going to want to use it wirelessly.

Wait a minute! After all that sticker bother you didn't write a scathing RGB review? You're missing out on the ragebait love!

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Go-Kart

04 Apr 2021, 21:31

Great write up, my dude.

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